Conservation, Culture and Wildlife

It’s the second week of the EDGE Conservation Tools training course and this week we’ve focused on introducing a wide variety of statistical tools. As Diorene Smith Cabellos explains, it’s been tough going but there have been lots of other activities going on too…

At the turtle conservation project talk

It’s just over a week since I arrived on the EDGE Conservation Tools training course and already I’ve crossed into the world of statistics! These tools will be vital when I analyse the data I collect during my work. This was my first time in the world of statistics but already I can see that the procedures and programmes are important to any scientific work.

Key talker for the turtle conservation project

In the middle of the week, the EDGE team gave us the opportunity to visit a project called Msambweni Turtle and Marine Conservation Group. At the project, we were greeted by members of the group and they explained their work to conserve endangered turtle populations and talked about how they promote marine conservation in the community. After this talk, we all had the opportunity to go snorkelling (one of the ways in which the group raises funds for their work) and see how habitats under the water function. It was fantastic to see how species of coral and fish interact to maintain the equilibrium of their ecosystem.

Me and the team ready to snorkel!

We’ve also had the opportunity to learn more about the cultural traditions of Kenya as a group of traditional dancers came to perform at camp. The dancers were from the local region as so full of enthusiasm and energy. It was fantastic!

Another interesting opportunity was a second visit to Shimba Hills. This time we were practising our observation skills, learning to be a good scientific observer and collect data on a focal species through observation and quantification of its behaviour. I had the opportunity to create ethograms for six animals: elephant, giraffe, warthog, bushbuck and hartebeest. All of these species are native fauna from Kenya and species that I’m seeing for the very first time!

Traditional dancers entertained us in camp

The EDGE Conservation Tools training course forms part of the EDGE Fellowship programme – to learn more click HERE